


Forgive & Forget

by The_Fanfic_Train



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Found Family, Gen, Post-Canon, Post-Episode: e067-069 Story and Song Parts 1-3, Taako sees Lucretia as another little sister you can't change my mind, This may also just be me loving Lucretia with every bone in my body but hear me out on this one ok, Time to be controversial I think Taako probably forgives Lucretia way faster than he plans on it, background Blupjeans and Taakitz, is this going to be the fic that gets me cancelled, listen I just need some wholesome birds ok, rebuilding post-hunger
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:47:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25831561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Fanfic_Train/pseuds/The_Fanfic_Train
Summary: It takes Taako an eternity to forgive Lucretia.(It takes Taako a week).
Relationships: Barry Bluejeans/Lup, IPRE as a family, Kravitz/Taako (The Adventure Zone), The Director | Lucretia & IPRE Crew | Starblaster Crew, The Director | Lucretia & Taako
Comments: 17
Kudos: 80





	Forgive & Forget

**Day 1:**

There’s a ladder off the edge of the Starblaster, but quite frankly, Taako doesn’t have the time. Davenport’s barely even touched the top layer of soil before he vaults over the edge, taking off into the celebrating crowd in search of his sister. Lup, Lup, _Lup_ \- god damn, and _Barry_ , and _Davenport and Magnus and Merle and Lucretia and Lup_ -

Lup first. Then Barry, because he was the only other one Taako hadn’t seen since the battle ended. But he needed to find Lup and see her.

“Lu?” Taako called, pushing through the crowds. All around him, people were flocking for his attention, begging to talk to him and hear more about the century on the ship. Idiots. He’d spent a hundred years- more than that, now- running and fighting and trying to survive. And now, he’d finally done it, and they expected him to just… roll over? Continue to play the public’s fool? No thanks.

Davenport would probably want to do another press conference. And if he didn’t, even better.

“Lu?” Taako called again, whipping his head around as he sees a flash of red to his right. Just a miscellaneous red cloak (Taako had the feeling that that suddenly was going to become a very popular fashion choice), and therefore not worth his time. He pushed onwards.

“Lu?” His heart rate was beginning to spike once more, but no- the umbra staff was destroyed, he’d ensured it, and Barry was with her, and like _hell_ would he let Lup out of his sight again.

“Taako!” A familiar voice called to his left, and he could barely contain the urge to sob as he turned to his left and saw her, incorporeal but _there_ , floating weightlessly.

“We did it!” She exclaimed as Taako did his best attempt at hugging her.

“It’s over,” Barry agreed. “It’s finally over.”

“Jesus, Barold, it’s good to see you,” Taako finally turned to him and gave him a once over. “Glad to see you didn’t go all spookster on me too.”

“I might,” Barry admitted, glancing over at Lup. “I might still do it.”

“No he won’t,” Lup corrected, turning to look towards where the Starblaster landed. “Now, I think Magnus said he wanted to hang out more post-hunger, which means that I’m going to make him buy me a drink. Shall we?”

“I thought you couldn’t drink in lich form?” Taako turned to Barry.

“No, we can’t.” He smiled, moving to stand closer next to Lup. “But what’s a party without a bit of booze?”  
  


~

  
(Late that night, after skillfully avoiding the booth where Lucretia had been hiding for many hours, Taako fell into his bed at the moonbase. He’d need a new home, soon- he thought he overheard Magnus telling Lucretia he had plans on moving back to Raven’s Roost. Merle was planning to go see his kids, Lup and Barry were probably going to finally get hitched-

A nice home, maybe. Something with lots of guest rooms for when the family came to visit. Five rooms, one for each bird (Lup and Barry could just share), and perhaps a sixth for Angus. Who else was going to teach him magic?

A portal opens to Taako’s right, and he’s only half conscious to see Kravitz tumble out of it in exhaustion.

“Put the legion back?” Taako mumbled as Kravitz haphazardly strips and climbs into bed next to him. The reaper was hardly so forward- likely a result of his fatigue. And also, likely due to the fact that he was unaware that at some point, the rest of the birds would likely choose to come cuddle (and the twins had always run warm, making them prime targets for bed-theft). _Oh well,_ Taako decided, he could handle his sister seeing his boyfriend in just his boxers in the morning. 

“Mm,” He hummed sleepily. “Struck a deal with the Raven Queen too. She’s willing to pardon all of the bounties on each of you, and she’s going to let the whole lich thing slide so long as Barry and Lup become reapers. Twenty gold says Barry figures out portals first.”

“Not going to bet against my sister- I don’t care if Barry’s already experienced in necromancy. You’re on. And that’s sick as hell,” Taako muttered against his boyfriend’s shoulder. “They’re going to love the skeleton aesthetic.”

“Well, I should hope so. It’s either that or the stockade.” 

“They have to like your aesthetic or they get locked up, handsome?”

“No, they have to _become_ my aesthetic,” Kravitz yawned. “Can we discuss more in the morning? I’m exhausted.”

“I thought you said we were going to hook up after defeating the hunger?” Taako teased, but he was already falling asleep in his lover’s arms.

“Mm, but plans change.” Kravitz agreed.

And just moments later, they were both fast asleep.)

**Day 2:**

“Taako, help me lift this!” Magnus called, half supporting the weight of an incredibly thick pillar. 

“I’m not _made_ of spell slots, y’know!” Taako frowned, but casted levitate all the same. 

“Play nice, you two!” Davenport called from next to Merle, the two taking a rest from replanting trees in the shade. “People are going to be looking to us for guidance more than ever.”

“Hey, speaking of guidance, where’s Madam Director, huh?” Taako crossed his arms, unintentionally dropping his levitate spell (somewhere behind him, he hears a yelp of surprise from Magnus and then the tell-tale crash of the stone colliding on the ground). “Isn’t this her mess?”

“Oh, Lucy?” Lup glanced up from where she and Barry were working on artificing a small fountain. Their goal was to make an endless stream of water to replace the rivers and wells that locals had lost, but the two seemed awfully rusty. “I’m pretty sure she’s an hours walk north, organizing support teams.”

“Sending out others to do her dirty work, huh? Sounds like her,” Taako grumbled, falling down on the grass next to his sister.

“I’m sure if you wanted to switch positions with her, she’d be _more than happy_ to do something more hands-on to help.” Barry said. “And, hey, she’s a wizard too. We’d still have the same awful class ratio."

“I heard that!” Davenport called. “I’m going to file a complaint with HR!”

“Not if we file one first!” The automatic response came like second nature, despite it being almost twelve years since any of them had said their turn of phrase on the Starblaster. In cycle four, before the realization that home was _gone_ had fully sunk in, Magnus and Lup had gotten in a fight over bathroom times, and- well, it had become one of the more quoted things amongst the seven of them (despite there not _being_ an HR to complain to).

God, did it feel good to be back with the team again. The crew had raided the Starblaster earlier that morning for all of their lost possessions (such as their uniforms and miscellaneous nicknacks) meaning that most of them were back in their red robes. Taako in particular was thrilled about being back in red, which was a little ironic considering how THB had spent so long viewing Red Robes as evil- but it had _pockets._ It had his notebook and his pen that he would use to write down important facts about the light to relay to the team after a scouting mission- it had some pretty hilarious doodles of Magnus- and, maybe most importantly, in Lup’s swirling handwriting, was a note from one of their team meetings. _Pay attention! Davenport is watching you._

It had been, if nothing else, a fun trip down memory lane.

Barry hissed in pain as the spigot jolted with electricity from Lup’s magic touch.

“Sorry, babe. Was trying to add a sensor to stop it from over-filling.” She said, extending a ghastly hand towards the cup once more.

“I can’t believe you made a magic vore umbrella that ate people and you can’t figure out a _glass of water_.” Taako heckled, kicking his sister’s fluid form.

“It’s- that’s a little reductive, bud,” Barry frowned.

“Yeah, I’m not sure a ‘glass of water’ is this simple, babe.” Lup frowned. “Also, when’s the last time we artificed _anything?_ ”

“You know, Taako, if you’re such an exceptional artificer yourself, maybe you should give your crewmates a hand?” Davenport suggested.

“You’re not my dad, get off my dick!” Taako called back. “I can fight with Lulu if I want to.”

“And thank god for that, hm?” Davenport stood. “Isn’t lunch supposed to be here soon?”

“I’m starving,” Magnus huffed, leaving the pillar where it was smashed into the ground to sit with Merle and Davenport.

“Would you say you’re…. _Hunger_ -y?” Merle asked.

“Boo!” Taako heckled, despite Lup’s cackling at his side.

“Too soon,” Magnus nudged the dwarf, hiding his laughter under mock anger. 

“Everyone’s a critic,” He shrugged, seemingly indifferent as the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps headed towards the town center the six were working in.

“Hi, sorry,” Lucretia had two picnic baskets tucked under her arms, skin tinged pink from exertion and heat. “I hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long- there was a- well, a scenario involving ‘pocket pudding’- I’m still not entirely sure what was going on, but Carey and Killian have promised to stop antagonizing civilians.”

“The pocket pudding’ll get ya.” Magnus nodded. “Hey, Creesh, you joining us for lunch?”

“I- uh, Magnus, you _know_ how I feel about ‘Creesh’,” Lucretia gave him a look as she placed the baskets down on the ground where the three were resting.

“Sorry, sorry! Madam Director,” Merle corrected, making Lucretia’s face turn even more sour.

“Merle, _please._ ” She begged. “I panicked when I said that. You know I did. There’s really no need to- y’know, turn it into a whole thing.”

“I think that ship has long sailed,” Barry said cheerfully, clapping a hand on her shoulder. “Our little Lucy is a _madam_ now.”

“Madam Lucretia,” Lup echoed, “I can’t believe it. Our baby is all grown up.”

“I’m- like, fifty, is this really necessary?” Lucretia asked as Barry gently pushed her to sit and join them on the grass.

“I don’t care _how_ big you are, you’ll always be our baby sister,” Lup promised. “Speaking of baby siblings- Taako! Get your ass over here!”

“I’m _enjoying_ the sun!” He replied, sprawling out further on the grass. The wound in his chest from her betrayal was still rather fresh, as it hadn’t even been a full day yet. But, much like how, after getting inoculated with the second voidfish’s ichor, he had realized how much he missed Lup, there had been a second wave of loneliness that washed over him.

Magnus and Merle, even though they still spent plenty of time together unknowingly, were different from their lives on the Starblaster. When Magnus joined the team, he was (as a human) a strange bumbling baby to Taako. Magnus had lived so little and done even less, which was hard for Taako’s brain to wrap itself around. Taako didn’t remember being _thirty_ , let alone _twenty._

But they spent twelve years alone and his sideburns had grown. Magnus got married and was the leader of a revolution. He experienced loss, and it was a burden that was solely his. He wasn’t the same kid that tried to fight the power bear in the first cycle. He wasn’t the same kid who lived recklessly and stayed behind on that first planet. 

Merle was ever the optimist, but he was a _dad_ now. Even though Lup and Taako hadn’t ever had parents, the closest thing to a fatherly figure in their life had been Davenport. If _any_ of the crew should have become parents it should have been their captain- Merle was rather _laissez-faire_ with most things, content to watch chaos boil into catastrophe, whereas Davenport was firm. Davenport was rather consistent about putting his foot down on bad behaviours (read: Taako walked in on Barry and Lup once so he pushed Barry off the starblaster in retaliation two cycles in a row, because in lich form they were forced to be less gross. Davenport, in turn, had put him on back-to-back watch overnight).

“Taako, come eat!” Lup called again. “You’re going to bitch about being hungry if you don’t!”

“What if I just want to nap, huh?” He called back. “Whether or not I eat, a short rest is a short rest!”

“He’s like a cat,” Merle shrugged. “Oh well, more for the rest of us. Lucretia, pass me the lemonade, yeah?”

Taako shut his eyes, basking in the warmth for a few moments longer and listening to the idle chatter until his sister’s voice disrupted his peace once more.

“Oh shit- Taako, babe, Luce brought those tiny pickles you like! You better come grab some before Magnus eats them all!”

“They’re not tiny pickles, they’re _cornichons,_ ” He frowned, sitting up, “and you call yourself a chef?”

“You don’t _cook_ with pickles, babe. They’re a condiment,” She argued as Taako finally meandered over.

“Potato salad. Fried pickles. Rassolnik- need I go on?” He plopped down next to Magnus and stole the container.

“But you said cornichons aren’t pickles, so do you cook with cornichons?” Merle asked.

“I said cornichons weren’t _tiny_ pickles. There’s a _difference,_ old man.”

“Yeah, come on, Merle, keep up,” Magnus laughed, “that’s like, day one stuff.”

Taako flipped him off, ignoring the way that the rest of the team laughed. He hadn’t heard most of them laugh so freely (or at all) in years- his sister, Davenport, Lucretia-

Taako took a bite of his cornichon as he listened to Lup explain to Merle that while all cornichons _are_ pickles, not all pickles are cornichons, which ended up leading into a strange champagne-based debate.

And retaliating was easier than thinking about everything, so Taako tag-teamed off of Lup until there was no anxiety, no panic- it was just the seven of them, enjoying a picnic on a peacefully inhabited cycle. It was a nice dream to live in, even if just for a while.

  
~

(At some point around two in the morning, Taako hauled himself out of bed. At first, it had been a huge dogpile of Lup, Barry, Angus and himself, but Kravitz had whisked the duo away for reaper training with no more warning than a kiss on the forehead. And without the familiar weight of his family, his restless sleep had become insomnia.

The livingroom to their dorm was a little more chaotic than normal- though, what about _anything_ in their lives was normal at the moment- as it had become a bit of a ‘bird’s nest’ (to quote Lup) and a hangout for the seven of them during their rebuilding.

The rest of the birds were supposed to be sleeping in Magnus’ room, so Taako had no worries about turning on the light as he stepped out into the common room. They were all exhausted after the long day they had, so there was no reason for anyone to be awake.

But, sitting on the couch, posture as clean and prim as ever, was Lucretia. She was staring at a spot on the floor intently as though it was moments away from spitting out the solution to rebuilding from the hunger, eyes sunken but unblinking.

It was the first time Taako had been hit by how _old_ Lucretia had really become. She lost twenty years of her life in Wonderland, and he knew that- they all did. And compared to the hundred years she had gained on the Starblaster, she was still far too young by human standards. She _was_ all grown up, no matter how essay it had been to forget at lunch. 

At lunch, Lucretia’s eyes had been filled with hope, with light- she was shy, as she always had been, timid around her _family_ because she was worried they wouldn’t love her anymore, which was _ridiculous_. She had laughed and smiled when they spoke to her, fingers fidgeting for a pen so she could document their time together- frowned when Magnus asked her to document a story about the “jerk off cave” and feed it to a voidfish so it could be blasted across the galaxy, making her frown and insist “I’m not going to do that.”

And when she had left, she had done so reluctantly- Barry and Magnus had managed to talk her into staying for an extra hour, far longer than she intended. But every army needs a general and every secret moon base that saves the world needs a director, and she had business to return to.

Davenport had walked her to the edge of town square, speaking to her quietly, and had returned with a new invigorating as he had encouraged the rest of them to return to work.

Taako had wondered if Davenport had yelled at her. Told her to stop visiting. Told her to never speak to him again, as unlikely as it was based on the way that they had interacted during their lunch.

Or maybe they had discussed the memory wipe. Taako hoped Davenport hadn’t forgiven her. He wasn’t ready to, not yet, and once his Captain had buried the hatchet he wouldn’t be far behind. He wanted his loss of Lup to hurt more, hurt longer- it didn’t seem fair to her to forgive so quickly.

As the lights to the living room flickered on, Lucretia snapped to attention.

“Shouldn’t you be asleep?” He asked, looking her over. Lucretia looked frail now, sitting with her hands folded together on her lap. “Humans need that, yeah?”

“I could ask you the same about meditation,” She replied softly. “Have you already gotten your four hours?”

“Does it matter?” He asked humourlessly, heading over to his kitchen to brew some tea.

“I’d like to think so,” She murmured, returning to her staring contest against the floor.

Taako, with two mugs in hand, joined her on the couch a few moments later. He’d already put in milk and sugar in his, but Lucretia liked hers with a dollop of honey that she mixed and waited to dissolve whilst Taako took his first sip.

They sat in silence for a long time.

“You know I’m really sorry, right? That I only did what I did because I wanted to protect everyone. I know that it was wrong- that _I_ was wrong, but I just- I wanted to take the pain away. I wanted to make everyone happy, even if just for a little while.” Her voice was cracked and broken, and a quick glance to the side revealed that she had a couple of small tears welling up in her eyes.

Taako knew that if he opened his mouth to respond, the words would come without thought. _Please don’t cry, Lucy. I’m mad- I’m so, so mad that you took Lup, my sister, from me, but aren’t you my sister too? I’ve lost both of you before, don’t make me lose you again. I love you Lucy, and I’m so angry, but we’ll figure this shit out. It breaks my heart to see you cry. It’s a big brother’s job to protect his sister. Let me handle it. It’ll be okay, I promise._

But instead, he sipped his tea and ignored the quiet sniffles to his left.)

**Day 3:**

Rebuilding without Lup and Barry _sucked._ No matter how much grief Taako gave them about their shitty fountain, and no matter how _right_ Barry was about there being five wizards in a seven party group, it felt unbalanced. 

The five remaining birds were in a conference room (provided by Brad in the HR department, thanks Brad) going over the plan for what they were going to say to the public regarding their whole alien-death-criminal-gig.

“I mean, isn’t honesty just the best way to go?” Merle shrugged, “We’re not going to want to get caught in a lie here.”

“I’m with Merle on this one. They’ve heard the story and song- they already know everything about us. Let’s just cut our losses.” Magnus agreed.

“If we just present it as is, boys, there’s going to be liches popping up left right and center,” Davenport disagreed. “I’ve heard Lup and Barry have already got a bit of a fan club going. And whilst Kravitz has been nice enough to get all of our bounties dismissed, if we start advocating for death crimes we’re going to have a whole new situation on our hands.”

“The bureau will be able to take the fall for everything post-voidfish, including Barry’s body-hopping. That being said, I do think we should cut out as much of the- y’know, the murder as possible. The Hammerheads in particular- really, almost everything relating to the gaia sash- is going to take some really heavy editing,” Lucretia said as she scribbled her notes down on their meeting in two notebooks. “It’s definitely- y’know, war crime adjacent.”

“A good point, Lucretia, and an excellent segue- didn’t she tell you boys _not_ to kill anyone?” Davenport turned to the three, making them all shrug in turn.

“We sort of assumed that was more of a suggestion than a rule,” Magnus offered.

“It’s like we told the kid on the train- it’s hard to not kill people.” Merle laughed. “It just sort of happened!”

“And, I mean, to be fair, Lucretia should have known ahead of time that we were not going to be able to follow _any_ rules. I mean, in our initiation test, Magnus’ _only_ job was to protect the button, and he fuckin’ threw himself off the edge,” Taako reminded them, “We’d only been there for like two hours. So, basically, what I’m saying, is that it’s not our fault that we weren’t reprimanded enough to care.”

“I reprimanded you for talking to Barry after the temporal chalice, and your excuse was ‘we forgot’,” Lucretia quirked an eyebrow.

“Listen, that time we did,” Magnus said while Taako shrugged.

“We’re getting off track,” Taako spoke over Magnus for a moment, looking at Davenport. “Look, if Barry and Lup are as popular as you say they are, the whole ‘don’t-become-liches’ talk will be more effective from them anyways. Right now, I think our number one concern is probably just explaining where _they_ are, yeah?”

“Lup and Barry first, death crimes second,” Magnus nodded. “Anything else we should apologize for up there?”

“Phandolin?” Merle suggested.

“Oh, yeah, throw that one up there,” Magnus agreed.

“I dunno, we saved the world, don’t we get a pass for destroying a town?” Taako asked. “Also, they don’t know _we_ did that.”

“No, they definitely know you did that,” Lucretia hid a smile, “Considering how you bring it up so often.”

“Well, let me spin you this thought, Lucretia,” Taako began, “have you heard of the saying ‘all press is good press’?”

“Not when we’re trying to prove that we didn’t bring the hunger here and kill thousands with our artifacts on purpose,” Davenport shook his head.

“That’s too bad- the gauntlet really started our adventure with a _bang-_ ” Merle said, making Taako laugh and Magnus reach for a highfive.

“Maybe you and I should just figure this out,” Lucretia said to Davenport, ignoring the chaos of tres horny boys laughing. “It might have been a mistake turning to them for guidance.”

“Aw, come on, Luce, there’s no need to get all _fired up-”_ Magnus added, sending the three into another round of joyous laughter.

Even as Davenport scolded them for not taking their meeting seriously, he and Lucretia both smiled and shook their heads, promising to check back in with Lup and Barry before allowing the bureau to make it’s official statements.

Good luck to them. He’d tried contacting all three of the reaper’s stones of farspeech, and had only been able to reach Kravitz (who had been uncharacteristically out of breath). In the distance, there was sounds of metal clashing together and joyous yells from Lup, which Kravitz had explained by saying they had just received their scythes and it was- the words he used was “babysitting a handful of newborns”. The call had only lasted about thirty seconds, with Kravitz’s last words being “I love you, babe, hopefully I can come visit- I gotta go. Barry, don’t do th- no, no-!” followed by the click of the line being disconnected.

At least those two chucklefucks were having fun without the rest of them, he supposed. That being said, they owed the five other birds a year of rest for covering for them, no ifs ands or buts. And a year of constant attention, because fuck them for wandering off so soon. 

As the three walked back to their dorm to get ready to head down to the world below for rebuilding, Magnus slung an arm across Taako’s shoulders, and that dulled the ache of missing Lup and Barry soon. Kravitz would try and bring them by soon, he promised. He just had to wait and be patient.  
  


~

(“So, I think I’m going to move back to Raven’s Roost after we’ve got everything all fixed,” Magnus said as Avi fired them out of the cannon. “Try and rebuild it back to its former glory and all that.”

“Oh,” Taako can’t help but feel a little blindsided by this. There was no discussion about whether or not any of the team would be joining him, no talk about whether or not Magnus would rather move somewhere closer to the crew. He was going, and he was going alone. That was it.

“That’s good, buddy- I’m probably going to be heading back to the Coralheart clan myself,” Merle said, “I gotta go visit my kids, I think. It’s been a while.”

“Yeah, for sure,” Magnus nodded. “We’ve been working for Luce for a year and a half- it’ll be good to finally take a break.” They turned to Taako. “What about you? What do you want to do?”

He shrugged. Was it weird that he hadn’t put any thought into it? In Taako’s brain, once the hunger was defeated, there was still loads to do. Cities needing rebuilding, trapped civilians needed rescuing, ecosystems need replenishing, economies needed resurrection-

There was months of work to be done. Was it bizarre that he had never once thought about the after?

“Dunno,” He said after a moment. “I’ll have to figure out what Lup wants to do.”

His companions nodded in understanding, and there was no further push, but the damage had been done.

Should Taako continue to work for the bureau? He wanted his bracer _off_ , more than anything, but he still needed it for transport to and from the moon. He wanted to be close to Lup, Barry, and Kravitz, but the three of them would be off on reaper missions most of the time anyways. Furthermore, the idea of risking his neck over and over again had thoroughly lost its appeal (not that it had ever really been his passion in the first place). 

The only other thing off the top of his head that he could think of wanting to do was continuing to teach Angus- gun to his head, he’d swear he hated the kid, but magic lessons had become one of the very few things Taako had done because _Taako_ wanted to. It was a chance to show off his magical prowess, leech some compliments off a ~~cute~~ kid and- was it weird to say that it was _exciting_ when Angus had a breakthrough? That it was _validating_ to see someone struggle and then succeed under your guidance? That it was enriching to guide a pupil into becoming their best self?

Cooking had been his passion once, before it had been turned into a weapon.

But teaching, sculpting the minds of young people into critical thinkers who would be willing to change the world for the better? It was still a weaponized profession, but it was one targeted at corruption.

The cannonball touched down on the ground, and the door popped open.

“I think I’m going to open a school,” Taako said, taking a step outside. “I’m going to teach magic.”)

**Day 4:**

After three days, most of the urgent work had been completed. Meaning that, for the first time since entering Wonderland, Taako, Merle, and Magnus were given a break for the day.

More than anything, he _really_ wanted to check in on the reaper training. Past his rushed call with Kravitz the day before, he hadn’t heard anything. He wanted to know if they were getting good at using their scythes, he wanted to know if the paperwork was fun, and most importantly, he wanted to know it was going _well_. Kravitz had been pretty clear that they wouldn’t be able to continue living as liches, but that the process was irreversible. They would be reapers or they would get stockaded. No in between.

Things had seemed chaotic on their short call, but perhaps that was normal? Maybe the sounds of two incredibly powerful beings attempting to scythe each other was _fine_ at this stage of reaper training. 

But if it wasn’t, he wanted to know so that he could get those two in line. Like hell was he going to spend time away from his sister and his best-friend again. Like _hell_ was he going to let his boyfriend put them in ghost jail- and, unfortunately, that did seem like a whole break-up waiting to happen. Which would be unfortunate, because Taako happened to really like Kravitz.

Taako sighed, burrowing deeper under his covers. Angus had gotten up early in the morning with Magnus, leaving him alone on the cool mattress. Elves didn’t need sleep- and most didn’t, unless they were sworn to Sehanine Moon, but sleeping had been something he and Lup had picked up on during their time on the Starblaster. His plan had originally been to sleep the day away and then grab something heavily fried to eat, but he couldn’t stop thinking long enough to trance, let alone sleep.

So, he reluctantly pulled himself out of bed in search of entertainment. For a while, he wandered the base. He went and visited Leon at the fantasy gachapon, who was in disbelief that Taako, who graduated the top of his class at the academy in transmutation, a talented scientist and literal alien, never was able to figure out the gachapon- and Taako had a great time explaining that he had _always_ known- it was just that Leon’s misery had sparked his joy.

So that had been fun.

He wasn’t quite sure how or why he ended up in Lucretia’s office, but shortly after tormenting Leon one last time he found himself facing the familiar desk and the now proudly shown painting of the seven birds that she made on the beach world.

“Taako, hello,” She closed the book she had been working on. “How’s your day going? Do you need something?”

“No,” he responded instinctively, and they stood in silence for a few moments. 

“Would you- would you like to come in?” She asked.

“No.”

“Okay,” She replied, and watched him silently for a few moments. “Um, you’re welcome to stay, but I’ve got to finish this report-”

“You’re like a sister to me, you know that?” He said without thinking. 

She glanced back up at where he was standing in the doorway, a little hesitant. “We were close.”

“No, not were- you’re still-” Fuck, what was he doing here? Was he _trying_ to make himself look like an idiot? “I- Lucy, you’re family, yeah?”

She didn’t seem to know how to respond.

“Just- we’re upset, but don’t- y’know, be too hard on yourself.” He said, turning on his heel and ignoring Lucretia’s call of “wait, don’t go!”

He’d said too much.

~

(“But why does it take an hour to copy the spell down into your spell book?” Angus asked, making Taako’s head spin.

“Because you’ve got to double check, boychik. You’ve only got a hundred pages, so you’ve got to make sure you copy it down _exactly_. I double check it at least three times.” He repeated. The two were sitting on the couch in the dormitory, doing some last minute magic work before heading to bed for the night.

“Okay, but what if I just do it really well the first time, then I don’t have to double check, right? In which case it would only take me around 20 minutes.” Angus asked.

“No, you just _can’t-_ and no matter how well you think you’ve copied it, you’ve got to double check.” Taako frowned. “It’s just- just part of the wizarding gig. I don’t know. It takes an hour. And everytime someone tries to do it faster, they make a mistake in their casting. That’s just how it works.”

“Sir, that seems kind of bullshit,” Angus frowned.

“Yeah, well,” Taako’s hands flew up in exasperation, “I didn’t make the rules, little man. It’s an hour to write down a new spell in your book. Don’t like it? Take it up with one of the big guys.”

“What are we taking up with me?” Magnus asked, stepping through the door drenched in sweat.

“Why copying spells takes an hour,” Angus said.

“I meant with the _gods-_ jesus, Mags, you reek. Grab a shower, yeah?” Taako’s nose scrunched up as his roommate drew nearer. “What the hell were you even doing?”

“Carey and I worked out for a bit,” He said, blissfully ignoring Taako’s disgust. “Also, Cap’nport is going to be here in a sec. Maybe he can teach Ango Dango a thing about spellbooks- and you, I guess, if you’re planning to teach a bunch of kids about them at some point.” Magnus said, ducking out of the way of a throw-pillow that was aimed at his head.

“I wish you never multi-classed,” Taako hissed. “I miss being able to hit you with shit.”

“Sorry, it’s not my fault that rogues get crazy dexterity and armor class bonuses,” He grinned, grabbing a towel out of the linen closet. “D’Jangus, I know Taako’s all set on you becoming a wizard, but you should multiclass- have you met Barry? He’s like- he’s multiclassed like five or six times, and it’s _wild-_ he went through this existential panic in around cycle fifteen where he realized that we were super fucked and-”

“I’m going to leave if you all keep talking about the class situation on the Starblaster,” Davenport stepped into the apartment with a heavy sigh. “It seemed like a good idea at the time, okay?”

“Five wizards seemed like a good idea?” Taako asked.

“For a two month expedition on a magic ship? Yeah, didn’t seem like we’d need much else,” Davenport retorted. “Magnus, you should really go for a shower.”

“I’m going, I’m going- you should explain the spellbook transfer thing to Taako and Angus though. Seems like they’re struggling,” And with a cheeky wink, Magnus slid into the communal bathroom.

“Fuck him, we’re doing fine,” Taako frowned.

“Oh, definitely,” Davenport smiled. “You’re a very competent wizard. Which is why I’m _sure_ you wouldn’t mind me listening in on your lesson? I’ll just add little things when I need to- and who knows, maybe I’ll learn something too.”

Taako may love Dad’nport more than Cap’nport, but _god_ was it embarrassing to be schooled in front of your student. On the bright side, Taako now knew that the Taako academy would have a very strict ‘No Davenport’ rule. So, y’know, silver linings.)

**Day 5:**

Taako had always hated press-conferences. They were the worst.

Press conferences were for a single purpose- for nosy reporters to dig into the lives of regular people and find something scandalous that could be used for financial gain.

Hell, even on their original planet, there had been critiques about levels of security- one _kind of_ trained healer and a head of defense that was a young human? How strong could he really be? And what about Lucretia, the chronicler- a mere girl, barely an adult- how could she, someone who’s claimed to have ghostwritten many titles with no evidence of these claims, possibly accurately document their expedition? 

It was a shit show.

Davenport and Lucretia took the lead, meaning that Merle, Magnus and Taako were free to just sit in the background and wait it out. They each took a turn at the podium- someone wanted to know more about Fisher, and had asked Magnus if he had seen them since the day of story and song. They asked for more clarification on how voidfishes worked, their development, and did they know of any others out there? Merle spent most of his time explaining how the gods were consistent amongst planes, but seemingly not the same entity (which was then followed by an unnecessarily long rant about the way of Pan). When the questions turned to Taako, asking about Lup, it was then his turn to step forward.

“My sister and Barold are busy with the Raven Queen,” He said, “they’ll be back once they’ve got things sorted out there. And I’m sure they’d be happy to answer any questions you have when they do.”

“How did it feel finding out you had a long lost sister? Do you resent the director?” Someone called out from the crowd.

“It was…” Taako’s brain took a second to think, “It was like finding a piece of a puzzle that I didn’t know I was missing. Things just make more sense now. Felt like something I should have known all along, for sure.” He took a deep breath and glanced over at Lucretia before continuing.

“As for resenting Lucretia- no, of course not. Maybe it’s weird of me to say no, but I guess I’m a fucking alien, so-” He shrugged. “I bet Captain Davenport would say the same,” He said, and then turned back to the captain. _Save me._ He begged silently. _I don’t want to do this anymore._

“I think I speak for the entire crew when I say that there are no hard feelings amongst us,” Davenport said, giving Taako a gentle pat to let him know it was alright to return to his seat. “Together, my crew has been able to accomplish incredible things. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again- we can do anything so long as we all work together, and that’s why it’s important that we do. We are still recovering from the Hunger attack, so I would like to remind all of you to continue to support both local businesses and your neighbours as we continue to rebuild...” 

Taako slumped against his chair, taking the hand Lucretia extended him without much thought. It wasn’t quite Lup, but it’d do. And it also probably looked good for the crowd, so he held on longer than originally intended.

Lucretia had always had really cool hands too, which had been perfect for long durations- that’s why he didn’t let go until they entered the canon ball to return to the moon, he told himself. He just hadn’t noticed. It wasn’t that he missed her.

~

(“Oh shit! Babe, look at me!” A familiar voice cause Taako to drop his mug of glaze for the ham he was making, shattering glass and ooze across the kitchen table. 

There was Lup, half hanging out of portal, scythe in one hand and the wall of reality in the other, grinning wildly. “I fucking did it!”

“I can’t believe you did it before Barry,” Taako heard Kravitz say softly from somewhere in the pit. “I could have sworn that his necromantic tendencies…”

“Twin powers, babe,” Lup grinned, fist-bumping her brother. “You want to see your favourite loser bad enough, you’ll make shit happen.”

“I’m letting the ‘loser’ bit slide because you at least said I was your favourite,” Taako grinned.

“Well, duh, goofus,” She smiled wider.

“Don’t goofus me, dingus- how’s it going?”

“We’re _killing_ it.” She said, laughing at her brother’s displeasure.

“Forget I asked,” He sighed. 

“Close it and try again- and try somewhere different this time. If you can only open portals to Taako it’s not the most convenient- hey babe,” Kravitz gave a small wave as he came into view.

“Hey,” Taako said, watching as Kravitz reached up to dismiss the portal. “You owe me twenty gold.”

Kravitz stuck his tongue out and closed the connection, but at least he had heard it.)

**Day 6:**

“Did you bring me anything?” Magnus asked, having just finished listen to Barry and Lup, R.I.P (reapers in preparation), explain what they had been up to the past few days.

“Yeah, these hands,” Lup said, raising one up for a high five.

“Hell yeah!” Magnus grinned, but his hand merely passed through her. “Aw, what?”

“Sorry, still incorporeal,” She laughed. “Barry got to keep his body cause this one never beefed it, but I’m either going to have to grow a body or learn to do constructs like Kravitz. Both have their pros, but until then…”

“You promised me a sick high five.” Magnus jabbed a finger at her in accusation. “We _never_ leave each other hanging.”

“I’ll high five you once I’m not all spooky, promise,” She said, turning to Davenport as he began to scold her.

“You know Magnus takes his high fives very seriously, Lup,” He said, flipping over a page in the book he was reading.

“Would you feel better if I let you high five me instead?” Lucretia asked, making Magnus narrow his eyes.

“You _hate_ high fives.”

“I know,” She nodded somberly. “But friends don’t leave friends hanging.”

“Lucy got buckwild while I was in the umbrastaff,” Lup grinned at Taako as Magnus high fived Lucretia _way_ too hard.

“I’ve always been ‘buckwild’,” Lucretia said, rubbing the affected hand. “It’s just not as obvious around the rest of you. It’s rather easy to be drowned out.”

“Are you calling us _loud?_ ” Taako asked, nudging her with his foot.

“I was going for overzealous, but I suppose that will do.” She said, smiling as they all began to voice their protests.

“That’s not nice,” Taako whined loudly.

“What? Lucretia!” Lup said in aghast.

“I mean she’s not wrong,” Merle laughed.

But they were all happy, and they were together. They started a movie and piled onto the three person couch together, featuring Taako lying across the back edge like a cat and Merle hanging off the arm rest. There was certainly more comfortable ways to watch a movie, but it was good to be so close to his team- his family. Especially when, a half hour before the end, Taako moved his head off the top of the couch and down onto Lucretia’s shoulder, leaning against her for a better view.

He was glad that the room was dark, because it meant she couldn’t see the way he smiled as she leaned her head against his.

  
~

(“Hey, Luce, come into my room tonight,” Taako suggested amidst the chaos of the birds all trying to use the singular bathroom and get ready for bed. 

“Are you sure?” She asked hesitantly. “I just- I know Angus likes to share, and you haven’t gotten to see Barry and Lup in a while, and I know they mentioned that Kravitz might be coming later tonight-”

“If you don’t want to, I won’t make you,” He feigned indifference. “I just thought that maybe we could force each other to sleep.”

She smiled. “I’d like that.”)

**Day 7:**

“Shit, go!” Taako shoved Lucretia further into the forest, his heart beating wildly in his chest.

“We’re fucked, you realize that?” She hissed at him, frantically glancing left and right. “They’re going to find us right away. We’re sitting ducks!”

“I know, fuck,” He glanced around. “Here, let me boost you into a tree- maybe the idiots won’t look up.”

“I am way too old to be boosted into a tree,” She grumbled, stepping onto Taako’s hands and hauling herself up between branches.

There was the trampling of branches underfoot.

“Fuck, fuck!” He hissed, scrambling up the bark with trained ease.

“Do you think they heard us?” She whispered.

“Shut up!” He shot back, holding his breath and listening.

“Come out, come out, wherever you are!” Lup’s voice sing-songed from not too far away.

“I know we said no magic, but I think they were talking about invisibility,” Taako whispered. “Lup can faze through shit, but I’m thinking that I can maybe cast a fireball and divert her attention elsewhere and we can make a break for it. Maybe try and find Barry and Merle before they find us.”

Good ‘ol partnered hide&seek manhunt. Never gets old, except for when you’ve got splinters from your hiding place and no way of leaving without alerting the team that’s looking for you.

And, with how the I.P.R.E. crew tended to play, that meant that it usually got old. They were all camping bastards (Taako included).

“You probably shouldn’t cast fireball in a forest, Taako,” She whispered back at him. We should just wait for them to move and then-”

“Lup! Over here!” Magnus called. “I can see Taako’s stupid hat!”

“My hat is _not_ stupid!” Taako called back.

“What are you doing, you blew our cover!” Lucretia shook him lightly. “I’m _fifty_ , how am I supposed to run away from a human grizzly bear and a literal ghost?”

“I don’t know,” A gruff voice said from the base of their tree, looking up with a wild grin. “But I’ll give you two a fifteen second headstart.”

~

(Late that night, after they were thoroughly exhausted from playing games and working, they fell asleep in a dog pile of blankets on the common room floor on the moonbase. His head was against Lup’s noncorporeal chest, and Barry was on his left, pressed tightly into his side.

The moon (the real one, that is) was high in the sky, meaning that only the two insomniacs could possibly still be awake. Lucretia hadn’t said anything, though, and her breath was calm, so maybe it was just him.

“Lucretia?” He said, speaking barely over a whisper. “I love you, and I forgive you.”

A couple of bodies to the right, Lucretia sighed. It sounded like _thank-you.)_

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Taz anniversary! I thought it would be fun to celebrate three years since the end of balance with a wholesome birds bonding fic.
> 
> Thank you to everyone who leaves comments and kudos on my works! It makes my day <3 If you're interested in seeing the hellscape that is my thought process (or just to drop in and say hi) you can find me on tumblr [@choo-choo-boyzz](https://choo-choo-boyzz.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Thank you so much for reading, stay happy and stay safe! <3


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